name wrote: actually, i tend to agree with you on that. i didn't find the british commentators, at least, to be anti-spain. to their credit, many british folk have finally admitted that their history of "kick and run" football is nothing to be proud of.

Massie's statement would have been better if he had left it at "people"... or maybe "ignorant people".

mancabbage wrote:

name wrote: Alex Massie nalis it. (Almost as if he'd been reading the nonsensical bs in much of this thread):

"Biggest Surprise That Should Not Be A Surprise: People - that is, the British media—complaining that passing the ball is now boring. Better, clearly, to make soccer a game for hoofers because that's, um, exciting. Boring Spain with all their neat and tidy and boring passes! Spain, apparently, are the new Germany. No wonder they won."

doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about, all the british pundits were heavily on spains dick saying its a pleasure to watch them play etc etc

haah i see you've been listening to mr beckenbaur, its a long time since england have actually played like that, graham turnip taylor football..

we're just shit

Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:42 am

neveragainlikesheep

Joined: 22 May 2008
Posts: 2536
Location: TKO from Tokyo

LOL Did anyone see this live?

Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:44 am

futuristxen

Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 19377
Location: Tighten Your Bible Belt

mancabbage wrote:

I don't know how that wasn't a straight red. Or how no one died.

Glad to see Forlan win the golden ball. Much deserved. He was incredible with his passing and scoring.

For me the best players in this world cup were ranked like this:
1. Forlan
2. Muller
3. Schweinsteiger
4. Xavi
5. Suarez
6. Sneider

Something like that. Big surprise at the no shows from Ronaldo, Messi, and Rooney. None of them seemed in form in the slightest.

Also really enjoyed Ozil, though I think he didn't have the stamina to be consistent through the whole thing. He looked tired the last three games.

Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:49 am

neveragainlikesheep

Joined: 22 May 2008
Posts: 2536
Location: TKO from Tokyo

OK. I've changed my way of thinking.

Spain deserved to win simply because of Jimmy Jump's existence.

This is man is the definition of epic.

Oh and this is pretty cute too...

<3

Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:00 am

mancabbage

Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 9267
Location: london

futuristxen wrote:

mancabbage wrote:

I don't know how that wasn't a straight red. Or how no one died.

I know, crazy.. if it wasnt the wc final he'd be straight off

Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:35 am

medicinemanHALFLING

Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 1393
Location: Iowa City

All I know, is thank god somebody found a winner, I think seeing that game go to kicks would have just been...uncalled for. The least dramatic dramatic thing of all time perhaps.

Spain deserved to win, they were clearly the better team, and although they took part in some pretty grimy shit too, eventually, it was mostly retaliatory and they were the less vicious and out-of-line. It wasn't even ten minutes in before the Dutch were so frustrated with the Spanish ballhandling that they were trying to bring guys down, which is just sad. Didn't even have enough faith in their game to give it a shot before getting desperate and dirty. De Jong should no question have left the game. Incredibly dangerous, especially to an airborne and unsuspecting person. He could have collapsed a lung or something easily. It was pretty hard to have sympathy for the Dutch after that little incident.

Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:52 am

patiodee

Joined: 14 Dec 2005
Posts: 774
Location: Bar-thay-lona

Although I hate Iniesta for various reasons (plays for Barca, is a diver of the highest order, etc etc), I have to give him his props for his shout out to Dani Jaqrque, the captain of Espanyol who died last year, that he had on his t-shirt. Classy move. RIP to our captain. Pericos hasta la muerte!

Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:02 pm

name

Joined: 12 Nov 2002
Posts: 955

mancabbage wrote: its a long time since england have actually played like that.

yeah. about 2 weeks.

Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:28 pm

jehu

Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 9310

name wrote:

mancabbage wrote: its a long time since england have actually played like that.

yeah. about 2 weeks.

haha

Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:58 pm

Captiv8

Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 8546
Location: Third Coast

What a disappointing final. Both teams looked like monkey poo right out of the gate, and had me wondering how they made it that far. Total fucking snoozefest. Iniesta and Robben were babies, and too many chances were missed by both sides. I was glad to see Torres, however accidentally, involved in the winning goal though. Thanks for costing me a dollar Netherlands.

Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:04 pm

T-Wrexp00ny tang

Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 6409
Location: Detroit, Michigan

I think that kick just might've been accidental..

Xabi might've been in his blindspot and he was only looking up at the ball..

Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:10 pm

icarus502kung-pwn master

Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 11291
Location: ann arbor

patiodee wrote: Although I hate Iniesta for various reasons (plays for Barca, is a diver of the highest order, etc etc), I have to give him his props for his shout out to Dani Jaqrque, the captain of Espanyol who died last year, that he had on his t-shirt. Classy move. RIP to our captain. Pericos hasta la muerte!

Yeah, I thought that was nice too. Iniesta is a class act.

Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:02 pm

leg.donor

Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 2756
Location: Portland, OR

iniesta has probably been my favorite non italian player of the last 5 years, the things he does with the ball are insane, i've never understood why people rate xavi over him.

Tue Jul 13, 2010 12:27 am

mancabbage

Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 9267
Location: london

name wrote:

mancabbage wrote: its a long time since england have actually played like that.

yeah. about 2 weeks.

ahaha, you are mistaken, they tried to play like that. But failed at that too

Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:05 am

smake

Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 682
Location: The Netherlands

That De Jong foul should have been a straight red. Very stupid foul and luckily Alonso wasn't decapitated in the process. That said, I really don't think he meant to hit him, at least not in this way. De Jong is a reckless player at times, always goes in full on, but he isn't the player who want to injure somebody. Red card though, hands down.

And yes, the referee was really inconsistent and at times it was in favor of the Dutch team, but Spain got away with a lot of things too. Spain was the better in the final, and The Netherlands couldn't play their own game, which made them make a lot of fouls. Other than that, we played a brave tournament and played really fair. In the final though, if you can't win by playing your best football, it's all hands on deck and just try to get one in. We almost did with Robben. It could have gone either way. Still, the players are getting a very warm welcome here in Holland as we speak, and right so: they did an amazing job for such a small country.

Edit: watching now, and I think half a million people have travelled to Amsterdam to salute the Dutch players. Amazing stuff. They lit a fire under the entire country once again, like they do every tournament. And this time they made it too the final, amazing. Insane to watch, the crowd is showing their support. Great great stuff.